Tufted rug



A. J, CARTER June 2, 1936.

TUFTED RUG Filed Aug. 26, 1933 fly. .5.

made to the drawing in which Figure 1 is a frac- Patented June vv2, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT lOFFICE TUFTED RUG August J. Carter, Chattanooga,Tenn., assignor to Carter Brothers, Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., acorporation of Tennessee This invention relates to a tufted article ofthe type described in the Carter Patent No. 1,485,213 and the Carter etal. Patent No. 1,936,347, and

more particularly to an improvement in the construction Vof such anarticle its surface.

In the construction of such an article, it has been the practice to sewthe tufts along the outline of the design and to ll in the design with asuitable color. The background was then tufted in rows with a yarn ofcontrasting color, each row ending a short distance from the outline ofthe design. With such a construction, however, the line between thebackground and the design was not clear cut and the design would appearto run into the background.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid this difficulty and toprovide an improved construction of such an article, and a method forproducing the same, whereby the design may be set oi more clearly anddistinctly. It is also an object to provide an article in which thedesign will cast a shadow and stand out from the background in relief.Other objects will become apparent.

The invention will be described as applied to the manufacture of a rugalthough it is not intended to thereby limit it to such an article sinceit may also be applied to other articles of a similar type. For example,to bath mats, stool and lid covers, bedspreads, etc.

In describing the invention reference will be having a design on tionalplan view of the back of a portion of a rug embodying the invention.Figure 2 is a fractional plan View of the front of the portion of therug shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken onthe line 3-3 of Figure 2.

In the drawing the numeral I0 designates the backing of the rug whichmay be of one or more Y layers of closely woven material. Rows ofstitches (not shown) for reinforcing the edge of the rug may be appliedaround the edge of the backing as well as rows of stitching extendinginwardly from the corners of the backing to assist in preventingbuckling and curling of the corners of the rug, and rows of stitchingthrough the center of the backing, all as more clearly described in theabove mentioned Patent No. 1,936,347.

The design isvthen applied by sewing tufts of relatively coarse yarnthrough the backing material II), as described in the above mentionedCarter patent. These tufts may include a row I I of tufts which definesthe outline of thedesign 'work rest will result in this lengthening ofthe and rows of tufts I2 of the same color which ll in the outline. Ifdesired an inner portion of the design may be made in a different coloror shade as 'illustrated at I3.I

The background for the design is then applied 5 by sewing a row I4 oftufts of a contrasting color around the outline of the design and.filling in the remaining surface of the backing with rows I5 of tuftsof the same color.

The tufts I4 are preferably of shorter length l0 than the tufts of thedesign or of the Dbackground and may be produced by changing thedimensions p of the looper and othef'parts of the loop forming l andcutting mechanism to provide shorter tufts.

With such a construction the outline of the l5 design and the outlineyof the background are clearly defined. The row of Ishort vtufts betweenthe design and the background permits the def sign to cast a shadow andsets it olf in relief so that it appears more natural and gives the ap-20 pearance of .depth to the lsurface of the rug, the design appearingto stand out above the background.

If the tufts forming the background are sewn rst and the tufts of thedesign are sewn after- 25 wards and in such a manner that a portion ofthe piling is positioned between the backing and the 'work rest, thetufts of the design will be a little longer than those of the backgroundand the design will stand out more clearly. Since the needle goes adefinite distance beyond the work rest, the slight raising of thebacking material by the piling between the backing and the tufts sosewn. v

It is apparent that many modifications of the invention and itsapplication to different designs may be made. For example, the outlinefor the design (I I) may be of tufts shorter than the tufts of thedesign and the background or the row of tufts of the `background next tothe outline for the design (I 4) may be shorter than the tufts of thedesign and the tufts of the background may gradually increase in lengthin the first few rows away from the design to the length of the tufts 45of the design. The tufts referred to above may be made up of cut oruncut loops or of combinations of cut and uncut loops. ,g

The terms used in describing the invention have been used as terms ofdescription and not as terms y of limitation and it is intended that allequivalents thereof be considered within the scope of the appendedclaims. In using the term strand portion of the tufts in the appendedclaims reference is made to the portion of the tuft stitch ap- 'pearingon the back of the rug, as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing. v

I claim: 1

1. A tufted article having tufts of Varying co1- ors sewn through abacking material to form a design, comprising a group of tufts-forming aportion of the design, a row of tufts of/the same color as the saidgroup of tufts and having the strand portion of each consecutive tuft ofsaid row aligned to form an outline for said portion ofthe design, asecond row of tufts ofa color different from that of the rst mentionedrow of tufts and having the strand portion of each consecutive tuftaligned to form a line substantially paralleling the first mentioned rowof tufts and additional tufts of the same color as the tufts of saidsecond row forming an adjacent portion of said design, said additionaltufts being in rows' to form a portion of the design, sewing a row of1tufts of a different color from the said group of tufts to follow theoutline of said portion of the design, and then sewing tufts of the samecolor as said row of tufts in rows extending in directions to intersectsaid row of tufts and forming an adjacent portion of said design.

.4. A method of producing a tufted article having tufts of varyingcolors sewn through a backing material to form a design, comprisingsewing a group of tufts through the backing material to form a portionof the design, sewing arow of tufts of the same color as the said groupof tufts to form an outline for the said portion of the design,` sewinga second row of tufts of a different color from the tufts of saidportion of the design and substantially paralleling the tufts of saidfirst row of tufts and then sewing tufts of the same color as said`second row of tufts in rows extending in directions to intersect saidsecond row of tufts and forming an adjacent portion of said design.

5. A method of producing a tufted article having tufts of varying colorssewn through a backing material to form a design, comprising sewing arow of tufts to form the outline for a portion of the design, sewing asecond row of tufts of a different color and substantially parallelingsaid first mentioned row of tufts, sewing rows of tufts of the color ofsaid first mentioned row of tufts to fill in the portion of the designoutlined thereby and sewing rows of tufts of the color of said secondmentioned row of tufts to fill in the adjacent portion of the design. 3

AUGUST J. CARTER.

